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Ni'iED STATES PATENT Fries;

FREDERICK A. ABEL, O LONDON, AND JAMES DEWAR, or CAMBRIDGE,

. ENGLAND.

GELATINGUS sneeosivs.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Fatent lilo. 125,648, dated April15, 1390.

Application filed August 27, 1889. Serial lio- 322,121- (Ho specimens.)Patented in England May 2'7, 1889,1lo. 8,719; in France August 19, 1889,No. 198,946; in Belgium August 21,1889,1lo. 87,455, and in SouthAustralia September 24,1889, liol,18-

Z70. all'whomit may concern.

- Beit known that we, FREDERICK AUGUSTUS .ABEL, knight, end JAMES DEWAR,professor i of chemistry, citizens of England, residing, re,

spectivelymtl Adam Street,Adelphi,in London,m the county'ofMiddlcsex,England,and

at 1 Scroop Terrace, Cambridge; in the county of Cambridge, England,have invented a, new

and useful Improvement in thc-lllnnufaotur of Explosives,- (for which wehave obtainef Letters Patent in South Australia, dated Sop tember 2 1-,1889, No.1,i18; in France, by Gertific-ate of Addition, dated August19,1889, No. 198,946; in llelgium,by( 3ertifiqute ofAddition, datedAugust 21, 1889,N0. 87,455, and in Great Britain, by an application forpatent which. patent when granted will bear date lVlay 27, 188$,No.8,718,) of which the following is a. specification.

The gelatinous explosives produced by combinstions of nitro-celluloseand nitro-glyccrinc, with or without other ingredients,- exert a ways.

greet disruptive force when they explode, and are therefore not suitedfor ammunition purposes.

Our invention relates to an. improvement in the manufacture of suchexplosives whereby we moderetethe force and rapidity of their explosion,giving it a. propulsive instead of a disruptive character, so that theyare adapted for ammunition purposes, the permanency of the compoundwithout change "being at the same time secured. For this purpose'wcombine tannin with the nitrocellulose or nitro-glycerine or with bothin either of two We either dissolve the nitro-collulose-such asgun-cotton or pyroxyline-+by any of the known so1vents-such es ucotonoor acetic ether-end we add thetanniningre- Instead of employingnitro-cellu so alone in forming the compound, as above cscribed, 5ol\'6'-- ;lllpl0y with it various proportions of nitro-glyo erino, and wethus obtain a compound of soluble nitrocellulose or of gum." cotton(insoluble nitrocellulose) with nit-ro-r glyccrine and tannin in itgelatinous condiiion, which may be rolled into sheets, drawn irfto wire,or otherwise treated foruse' as an explosive.

With the compounds produced as above described may be incorporatedvarious proportions of ,oxidizing' agents-such as nitrates of potassium,sodium, ammonium, and bitrium2.nd oxidize-hie substnncessuch aslamp-black or grophite'und hydrocarbons such as parztffine, Vaseline,and naphthelinen fi's cellulose, fatty oils, and fats or nitro-dorivatives of hydrocarbons.

The proportion of, tannin added for the purposes of our invention may bevaried. In treating gun-cotton alone We have found the proportion ofninety parts of gun-cotton and ten parts of tannin to give good results.

In the case of a compound of gun-cotton X d nitro-glyoerine we haveemployed the Under theterrii tannin is to be under- 8d) stood any of thesubstances that are sold oonnncl'ciztlly under the nmnoof tmmlo ead. Weprefer, however, to use gallotmmic no (1 for the purpose of our invontion.

Having thus described the nature of our two sunsrib lng Witnesse'sfihis9th day 'of invention and the best means we know of August, A. D. 1889.(em'rying the same into practical effect, We -F-' A- ABEL- 01:Lix11- J.DEVVAR. 5 As a. new article of manumcture, a gelati- Witnesses:

nous explosive consisting of nitro-glycorine OLIVER IMRAY,

and nitro-cellu'lose to which tannin is added, U. S. Patent Agent, 28Southampton Buildwhereby the explosive is rendered of a pro- 'ings,London, TV. 0.

pulsive instead of a disruptive character, sub- JNO. P. M. MILLARD, ostantially as described. Clerk to .Messrs. Abe-Z A? [mm-y,C(msuZh-ng Intestimony Whereofwe have signed our Engineers and Pat nt Agenfi 28Southnmnes tq this specification, in the presence of(41711215011:Bu-zldl ngs, Lrmclrm W C'.

